Israeli authorities returned the body of 24-year-old Saadi Mahmoud Ali Qaisiya on Friday evening, after the man was shot and killed by an Israeli settler in the illegal settlement outpost in the South Hebron Hills on March 1, after Qaisiya allegedly committed a stabbing attack.

After Israeli authorities handed over the remains to the Palestinian liaison, they were transferred by a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance to al-Ahli hospital in Hebron, where his family and tens of residents of Qaisiya's hometown of al-Dhahiriya were waiting.

The Palestinian public prosecution ordered an autopsy to be conducted to determine the cause of death, and for a report to be issued to the family.

His funeral is expected to take place on Saturday.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an at the time of Qaisiya’s death that an "attacker armed with a knife entered a house" and stabbed a settler, injuring him lightly.

However, the majority of bodies of Palestinians slain by Israeli forces have since been returned to their families, despite the Israeli security cabinet deciding in January that bodies of Palestinians affiliated with the Hamas movement who were killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis would be withheld indefinitely.

A joint statement released by Addameer and Israeli minority rights group Adalah last March condemned Israel’s practice of withholding bodies as "a severe violation of international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law, including violations of the right to dignity, freedom of religion, and the right to practice culture."

Thousands of Palestinians on Friday afternoon laid to rest martyr Basel al-Araj in al-Walajeh town in Bethlehem. The participants in the funeral carried Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Palestinian Authority (PA) and anti-occupation slogans.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) were deployed along the path of the funeral march which kicked off from the martyr's home.

The director of ambulance and emergency department in the Red Crescent in Bethlehem, Mohammed Awad, said that the IOF soldiers handed over the body of martyr Araj to his family at the Israeli military checkpoint (300) at the northern entrance of Bethlehem. It was moved to Beit Jala hospital for medical examination, he added.

Basel Araj, 34, was killed at dawn Monday, March 06, in a clash with the IOF soldiers who stormed the apartment, where he was hiding from IOF arrest, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. He refused to surrender and engaged the soldiers in an unequal gunfight that ended in his martyrdom.

Israeli authorities backtracked on conditions for handing over the body of martyr Araj after his family refused these conditions which stipulated arranging his funeral directly from the barrier not from his home.

The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) informed the Palestinian Liaison Office of their intention to return the body of the martyr Basel al-Araj on Friday afternoon without preconditions, family sources affirmed.

Al-Araj family told the PIC reporter that the IOA announced its decision to release their son’s body today at 4 pm at Bethlehem northern checkpoint.

The family called for mass participation in the martyr’s funeral which will start from the family house in the afternoon.

Earlier Thursday, the IOA agreed on returning the martyr’s body on Friday evening on condition of burying it immediately after its release without entering the family home.

However, the family refused the Israeli conditions, insisting on their right to organize a majestic funeral procession for their son.

Al-Araj, a pharmacist and a prominent anti-occupation activist, was fatally gunned down by the Israeli occupation soldiers in a house in Ramallah last week.

The family of the Palestinian martyr Basel al-Araj announced their refusal of Israeli conditions for returning back the body of their son which has been held for more than a week in Israeli morgues.

Local sources affirmed to the PIC reporter that Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) agreed on returning the martyr’s body on Friday evening on condition of burying it immediately after its release without entering the family house.

The family declared their total rejection of the Israeli conditions, insisting on their right to organize a majestic funeral procession for their son.

The IOA had earlier declared intention to return al-Araj’s body on three past occasions since his killing by Israeli gunfire before backtracking on its promises.

Al-Araj, a pharmacist and a prominent anti-occupation activist, was fatally gunned down by the Israeli occupation soldiers in a house in Ramallah last week.

The Palestinian families of detained martyrs on Saturday called for pooling all the efforts to pressure the Israeli occupation authority to release their relatives’ bodies.

This came during a news conference held yesterday by a national committee supporting the families of detained martyrs near the separation wall in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Spokesman for the families Mohamed Aliyan, the father of martyr Baha, expressed rejection of Israel’s use of detained martyrs as a bargaining chip, stressing that the detention of bodies violates the international law.

Aliyan, who works as a lawyer, pointed out that the families would have to take legal action at Israeli courts to restore the bodies of their relatives, although Israel’s judicial system is part of the occupation and represents it.

He affirmed that there are efforts to back up the defense crew, who follows up the file of detained martyrs, with international lawyers, highlighting the importance of rallying national and international support for the issue.

The spokesman also called for organizing a popular solidarity day for the families of detained martyrs on March 22.

The family of slain Palestinian youth Basel al-A’raj said that Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) decided Friday morning to postpone the release of his body until further notice.

Speaking to the PIC reporter, the family pointed out that the Palestinian liaison office informed them of the Israeli decision to postpone the release of their son’s body from Israeli morgues for the third time since his killing.

Al-A’raj, a pharmacist and a prominent anti-occupation activist, was fatally gunned down by the Israeli occupation soldiers in a house in Ramallah few days ago.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on Thursday afternoon that the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) postponed handing over the body of the slain Palestinian youth Basel al-A’raj to his family to Friday at 3 p.m.

In a previous statement, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that the IOA notified them of their intent to release al-A’raj’s body on Thursday afternoon.

According to the Palestinian Liaison, al-A’raj’s body will be handed over at al-Walja military checkpoint, near Bethlehem.

Al-A’raj, a pharmacist and a prominent anti-occupation activist, was fatally gunned down by Israeli occupation soldiers in his house in Ramallah three days ago.